While consuming bottled beverages, one confronts a dilemma with respect to the cap. If one sets aside the cap, it may become misplaced or otherwise unavailable if later needed to re-seal a bottle whose contents have been only partially consumed. If the bottle is drained and discarded, the cap must be retrieved from its place of temporary storage and separately discarded. If one has moved around with one's beverage while consuming it, the cap may be some distance away.
More significant, perhaps, is the possibility that the bottle cap, being a small and seemingly insignificant item, will not be disposed of properly. Billions of thoughtlessly discarded bottle caps are, in the aggregate, a significant environmental pollution problem. For beverage cans, this problem largely has been solved through the use of "pop-tops" that remain attached to the can after opening.
The present invention provides a somewhat analogous remedy for the problem of holding and disposing screw-off or pry-off caps of glass or plastic bottles. It furnishes a means for the user to attach the cap to the bottle so that the cap is readily available for reuse or so that the two automatically will be discarded together without further effort.
Felt tip markers are known which have recessed wells in the end opposite from the tip, which wells are used for temporarily storing the cap while the marker is in use. However, the cap protrudes from the well out beyond the end while so stored. This is not a problem, because the diameter of the cap is so large (relative to the end in which it is stored) that, while the cap is in the recess, the marker may be stood stably upright on the cap itself just as easily as it may be stood on end without the cap in the recess.
The problem with providing a well in the base of a beverage bottle like that of marking pens is that the diameter of the cap is usually quite small when compared to that of the bottle. Therefore, allowing the cap to protrude from the well down out beyond the base will not do--the bottle will thereby be rendered unstable.
Merely providing a well in the base having the same size and shape as the cap also will not do--means must be provided for grasping the cap so that it may be removed from the well.
Prior developments in this field may be generally illustrated by reference to the following patents:
______________________________________ Patent No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,402,844 W. Chin Sep. 24, 1968 2,041,563 C. Meinecke May 19, 1936 4,928,848 J. Ballway May 29, 1990 4,804,096 C. Harding Feb. 14, 1989 560,632 Swiss A. Borgeaud Dec. 01, 1973 3,598,271 D. Holley Aug. 10, 1971 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,844 teaches a bottle having a base stand 18 that alternatively functions as a cap. There is a recess or well 16 in the base of the bottle which is designed to hold this enlarged inversion stand. Nevertheless, the recess could almost hold the separate top cap 14, as a hypothetical alternative, although this is not within the teachings of that patent. In any event, measurement of the figures of that patent shows that even if the cap 14 of this bottle were used in this unintended manner, cap 14 would protrude out slightly from the well, so that the bottle would be rendered unstable. Furthermore, no means is provided for reaching inside the underside of the bottle to grasp and remove the contents of the well. This is logical, given that the base stand of that patent is in fact designed to protrude out beyond the bottle base, in order to be readily grasped at the sides of the bottle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,041,563, 4,928,848 and 4,804,096 teach lids of containers that are designed also to fit on the bases of the containers.
FIG. 13 of Swiss Patent 560,632 shows a recess in the base of a cup, but it is far too small to hold any cap that would fit on the open top. FIG. 12 therein indicates that the purpose of this recess is actually to act as a stopper for a bottle 26.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,271 teaches another lid for the top of a cup that is designed also to fit on the base of the cup.